Creedence Clearwater Revival

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Calling Card

Creedence Clearwater Revival's calling card has got to be their Southern-influenced "swamp rock" sound. The band was heavily influenced by Southern blues, and the sound they perfected was rooted in this American musical tradition.

But there's one weird thing about this story: Creedence Clearwater Revival wasn't from the South. They actually hailed from El Cerrito, an East Bay suburb of San Francisco in Northern California… just a couple thousand miles from the swamps of Louisiana. John Fogerty may have written "Born on the Bayou," but he was actually born in… Berkeley.

Questions of authenticity aside, Creedence certainly did transport themselves (musically anyways, if not physically) to the Southland. Creedence's sound was a far cry from the psychedelic rock that dominated most of the San Francisco music scene in the late 1960s. Let's just say that John Fogerty and the boys were not known for wearing any flowers in their hair. While many bands of this era were busy playing long, improvisational jams, Creedence kept their song structures tight, drawing on classic rock and blues influences.